12-yr-old run over, mob fury in Telco

OUR CORRESPONDENT

A Class VII boy, pedalling home from tuition, was crushed to death under the wheels of a speeding dumper on Jemco-Telco road on Tuesday afternoon, triggering a 30-minute road rage topped by a marathon blockade that continued late into the evening.

Rahul Kumar (12) was a student of Lady Inder Singh School in Telco and resident of Jemcoís Gwala Bustee.

Eyewitnesses said that the young boy was cycling along the side of the road around 3.30pm, when the dumper hit him from behind, dragging him under the wheels and killing him on the spot.

The dumper driver tried to flee the spot in his vehicle, but was chased and nabbed by local residents. He was thrashed and held hostage at an undisclosed location for several hours before being handed over to the police.

A section of 300-odd frenzied residents pelted stones at passing trucks and dumpers, smashing windscreens and bringing traffic to an abrupt halt. They also damaged over a dozen stationary trucks and trailers parked along the road.

A mob even caught hold of an assistant sub-inspector of Telco police station, poured kerosene on him and tried to set him on fire. Other policemen managed to rescue him on time. The ramapge continued for over half an hour.

Later, relatives and sympathisers blocked Jemco Square with the childís body, demanding compensation from the owner of the dumper whom police are yet to identify.

DSP (city) K.N. Chowdhury said SSP Akhilesh Kumar Jha and a posse of policemen intervened to bring the situation under control.

He added that efforts were being made to locate the owner of the killer vehicle.